As a VMware L2 HCX professional at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), you will play a critical role in ensuring the smooth operation and management of VMware environments across a diverse range of client infrastructures. Your expertise will be vital in maintaining high availability, performance, and security of virtualized resources, with a focus on VMware 6.x and 7.x environments.

Core Responsibilities

1. Managing VMware Environments. You will be responsible for the day-to-day management of VMware environments, ensuring optimal performance, stability, and security across multiple clients. This includes environments running on vSphere, ESXi, and other VMware technologies.
2. Patching & Upgrades. Regular maintenance tasks such as ESXi host patching and version upgrades will be a key part of your responsibilities. This ensures that the environment stays secure and up-to-date with the latest VMware releases.
3. Configuration Management. You will configure and manage VMware clusters to ensure high availability, performance, and resource optimization. This includes configuring features such as Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and vMotion for load balancing and resource management across the infrastructure.
4. VM Lifecycle Management. You will deploy and manage virtual machines (VMs), ensuring they are properly configured for optimal performance, security, and scalability. This involves fine-tuning VM settings, such as CPU, memory, and storage, and ensuring the overall virtual environment is cost-effective.
5. Integration with Hyper-V. In hybrid environments, you may work with Hyper-V to integrate VMware environments with other virtualization platforms, ensuring seamless operations and interoperability.
6. VM Performance Optimization. You will leverage your expertise to identify potential bottlenecks in VM performance and implement solutions to optimize resource allocation.
7. Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery. You will be responsible for the implementation and management of backup and recovery strategies for VMware environments. This includes ensuring that disaster recovery (DR) plans are in place and tested regularly, utilizing VMware SRM (Site Recovery Manager) for failover and data replication to remote sites.
8. Backup Integration. Working closely with backup teams, you will ensure that virtualized workloads are backed up effectively and can be quickly restored in case of failure. You will configure backup schedules, manage backup policies, and ensure data integrity.
9. Technical Support. You will provide advanced-level support to clients facing escalated VMware issues, such as performance degradation, cluster instability, and failed virtual machine migrations. Your role will involve troubleshooting and resolving complex issues that impact the health of VMware environments.
10. Client-Facing Responsibilities. You will engage directly with clients to understand their VMware needs, troubleshoot issues, and offer guidance on best practices for managing their virtualized environments. This will require strong communication skills and the ability to interact with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
11. Proactive Issue Resolution. Identifying and resolving potential issues before they become critical will be a key responsibility. You will leverage VMware monitoring tools (e.g., vRealize Operations Manager) to ensure proactive monitoring and performance tuning.
12. High Availability & Load Balancing. You will be responsible for the configuration and management of VMware clusters to ensure that the infrastructure remains resilient and highly available. This includes configuring HA (High Availability) and DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler) for optimal resource allocation and automatic load balancing.
13. Scalability. As client needs grow, you will need to scale VMware environments efficiently to accommodate more workloads and users. This may involve adding new ESXi hosts, storage devices, or configuring more complex network topologies.

Must-Have Skills

1. VMware 6.x and 7.x. Proficiency in vSphere, ESXi, and other core VMware technologies, including deep knowledge of cluster management, storage, and networking configurations.
2. VMware SRM (Site Recovery Manager). Strong experience with VMware's Site Recovery Manager for disaster recovery and business continuity. You should be able to manage and test failover scenarios.
3. Virtual Machine Management. Experience in deploying, configuring, and managing virtual machines, including performance tuning and cost optimization.
4. Backup & Recovery Solutions. Familiarity with VM backup strategies and disaster recovery systems, ensuring business continuity in case of failure.
5. VMware Cluster Configuration. Hands-on experience configuring and managing VMware clusters, including High Availability (HA), Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), and vMotion for resource management and load balancing.

Additional Skills

1. Hyper-V Integration. Experience integrating VMware with Hyper-V environments for hybrid cloud deployments.
2. Cloud Technologies. Knowledge of cloud-based VMware solutions like VMware Cloud on AWS or VMware on Azure will be a plus.
3. Networking. Understanding of VMware networking concepts such as vSwitches, Distributed Switches, and NSX.
4. Scripting. Ability to write or modify scripts (PowerCLI, Bash, etc.) to automate repetitive tasks and enhance operational efficiency.
5. Performance Monitoring. Experience with vRealize Operations Manager or similar VMware monitoring tools to proactively manage VMware environments.

Ideal Candidate Profile
To be successful in this role, the ideal candidate should have a solid foundation in VMware administration, strong troubleshooting skills, and a proven ability to manage complex virtualized infrastructures. The role requires attention to detail, excellent problem-solving capabilities, and the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, client-facing environment.

How You’ll Contribute to TCS

1. Client Satisfaction. Your work in maintaining VMware environments and providing high-level support will directly impact client satisfaction, ensuring that virtualized infrastructures run smoothly and securely.
2. Operational Efficiency. By leveraging your technical expertise, you will help optimize VMware environments, enabling clients to reduce costs and improve performance while maintaining a secure and highly available infrastructure.
3. Innovation & Best Practices. As a part of a global IT leader, you will stay at the forefront of VMware technologies and be part of a culture that values continuous learning and the implementation of best practices in IT infrastructure management.